God Made a Mexican Migrant Farmer

Here is a little glimpse of what likely happened in many rural areas of Mexico throughout the financial boom years of the 2000s. Mexican immigrants, legal ones at least, of which there were are about 5.4 million, probably found themselves in construction and labor jobs, with steadier work and higher levels of pay than they had ever experienced previously in their lifetimes.  While many Americans were building expensive new homes and expanding their wealth, Mexican immigrant labor was a beneficiary of this prosperity.

One of the biggest points of pride for rural Mexicans working in the United States is to be able to triumphantly return to their hometowns with evidence that they have succeeded financially abroad. They come bearing thousands of dollars of gifts: flat screen televisions, washing machines, refrigerators, and the newest American styles. These are handed out with great fanfare. The expense of this grandiose gift giving is worth it, because it is an affirmation of one’s choices, and it offsets some of the brutally hard labor that had to be done in order to achieve this material gain.

These gifts were typically transported over land in a marathon driving session. The mode of transportation itself was the ultimate symbol of success and was one that was not given away. Being from areas that frequently lack paved roads, where farming and caring for livestock are still the way of life, hefty, work vehicles are highly valued. None is more valued than a pick up, and there are few automakers other than American ones that have mastered the engineering of a powerful utility vehicle. Even though he would be more likely to use the vehicle on the streets of Chicago or Los Angeles for transportation, rather than work, the symbolic power of the truck transcends borders. A large truck is not seen as a liability in any way, even for a Mexican-descent city dweller, rather it is a great figurative investment. A Dodge Ram such as this one would certainly satisfy the prestige, power, work, and transportation needs of a Mexican migrant.

I wrote a post at the end of last week asking readers to notice the presence, or lack thereof, of marketing to Latinos during the Super Bowl commercials. Except for a silly Taco Bell ad, there was little explicit focus on Latinos.

One commercial that was touted as one of the best overall was a sentimental piece produced by Dodge that hailed the American farmer. The ad touted repeatedly in its tagline that “God made a farmer.” Pictures of farmers served as the backdrop of the ominous and authoritative narration , played with a crackling, old tube radio style overlay. The words and voice were provided by the recording of a 1978 speech given by conservative radio broadcaster Paul Harvey, now deceased. It was no surprise that Dodge would be associated with the hard work of farming, given the affinity that rural Mexicans have for the vehicles, which I mentioned above.

What was surprising was that the portrait that the Dodge commercial displayed was an almost exclusively White one. Judging only from the faces, at best a couple of the 15  farmers whose pictures were shown were Latino. This is in spite of the fact that by varying estimates, between 50 and 70 percent of the farm work labor force is Latino. This is certainly an issue of the inaccurate representation of who farmers actually are. Others, notably Alexis Madrigal of the Atlantic, have already noted that it also downplays the day-to-day issues and injustices that Latino farmworkers face in terms of pay and working conditions. This video shows a farmworker recounting the appalling conditions a typical tomato picker must endure.

Dodge cannot be held entirely responsible for the conditions of farmworkers. They are an auto manufacturer that is trying to sell cars and make money and I fault them in no way for that.  What they missed is an amazing opportunity to do well and do good. Ironically, the great American Dodge Ram is manufactured in Mexico. Latinos have an affinity for pick up trucks. Latinos also have strong ties to farm working today and historically, whether it is parents and family members or they themselves. Dodge has made a previous bad attempt to reach out to Latinos by simply translating their ad and having Latino-looking actors. All of these deeper cultural connections, however, were missed opportunities for Dodge to reach out to a Latino market that it has already begun to tap into; unfortunately for them, they may have just undone some of that groundwork with their insensitive ad.